The people we keep

Allie Larkin

Book - 2021

"Little River, New York, 1994: April Sawicki is living in a run-down motorhome, flunking out of school, and picking up shifts at the local diner. But when April realizes she's finally had enough-enough of her selfish, absent father and barely surviving in an unfeeling town-she decides to make a break for it. Stealing a car and with only her music to keep her company, April hits the road, determined to live life on her own terms. She manages to scrape together a meaningful existence as she travels, encountering people and places she's never dreamed of, and could never imagine deserving. From lifelong friendships to tragic heartbreaks, April chronicles her journey in the beautiful music she creates as she discovers that home is... with the people you choose to keep. "Allison Larkin knows her characters so well," (Rainbow Rowell, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor Park) and brings her "tender, and real" (Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of Daisy Jones The Six) prose to this unflinching, lyrical tale that is perfect for anyone who has ever yearned for the fierce power of belonging or to understand the profound beauty of a family found along the way"--

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FICTION/Larkin Allie
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1st Floor FICTION/Larkin Allie Due Apr 7, 2024
1st Floor FICTION/Larkin, Allie Due Apr 15, 2024
Subjects
Genres
Historical fiction
Bildungsromans
Road fiction
Novels
Published
New York : Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster 2021.
Language
English
Main Author
Allie Larkin (author)
Edition
First Gallery Books hardcover edition
Physical Description
359 pages ; 24 cm
ISBN
9781982171308
9781982171292
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

Sixteen-year-old April Sawicki has been on her own since her father left their rundown motor home. She finds solace in music, and several well-received performances at open mics lead her to believe that she might be able to make it as a musician. Then April's father breaks her guitar in a fit of rage, and April leaves. Penniless and homeless, she lands in Ithaca, New York, lying about her age to land a job at an edgy coffee shop. Her boss, Carly, and a regular customer, Adam, support her as she struggles to get by. When someone threatens to reveal her secret, she flees, setting up a pattern that will define much of her young life. While April outwardly embraces her nomadic lifestyle, she craves a home where she belongs. Larkin (Swimming for Sunlight, 2019) has created a memorable character in April, whose journey toward belonging and self-acceptance will resonate with readers. The depiction of the mid-1990s is pitch-perfect and will invoke feelings of nostalgia, especially in Gen Xers who came of age during this era. Fans of Caitlin Moran's How to Build a Girl (2014) will enjoy traveling alongside April.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Music and the generosity of strangers provide healing in Larkin's emotionally expansive latest (after Swimming for Sunlight). In 1994, 16-year-old April performs her songs at open mic nights around her small hometown in Upstate New York. Then, after her disapproving father destroys her guitar, she strikes out on her own and lands in Ithaca, where, over the course of a few intense months, she establishes something like a found family. But a betrayal and a fear that she'd be found out for lying about her age prompt April to flee rather than face rejection by those she's come to love. Fast forward three years and April is still on the road--and when the opportunity to create a home comes once again, she must choose whether to run away or go all in and finally discover whether art and stable relationships have to be mutually exclusive. Some parts of April's story (such as the career path of her high school sweetheart) come off as contrived, but several of the supporting characters feel authentic, as does the sometimes harrowing depiction of April's life as a young woman traveling and performing solo night after night. This hopeful story will move readers. (Aug.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review

In 1994, high school student April Sawicki is living alone in a rickety motor home owned by her dad. He moved out a few months earlier to live with his girlfriend, Irene, and her son. April's mother had walked out when she was small, and April has little memory of her. When April discovers that Irene is pregnant, she packs up her dad's car and hits the road. She manages to eke out a living playing guitar and singing in coffeehouses. She almost seems determined to avoid happiness, as if she doesn't deserve it. Once or twice April finds a place and people who seem like home and family, but something happens to make her keep moving. As she gets older, she begins to play in pubs, though she prefers the sober, more appreciative coffeehouse customers. By the end of the book, she's in her early 20s and pregnant, but upon learning that the father of her child is not the man she's fallen in love with, she hits the road one last time. April's story is Dickensian: She moves from one not-quite-catastrophe to another until she finally finds a happy ending that feels a bit contrived. VERDICT Recommend this to teens who enjoy long coming-of-age stories. It could be a stepping-stone to Jane Eyre.--Marlyn Beebe, Long Beach P.L., CA

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